Fire-extinguishing cabinet.



- PATENTED JULY 21, 1908. w. E. LUHMAN. FIRE EXTINGUISHING' CABINET.

APPLICATION FILED MAY 18, 1907.

WILLIAM E. LUHMAN, OF PORT CHESTER, NEW YORK.

FIRE -EXTIN GUISHIN G CAB IN E T.

Specification of Letterslatent.

Application filed May 18, 1907.

Patented July 21, 1908.

Serial No. 374,359

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM E. LUHMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing in Port Chester, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Fire- Extinguishing Cabinets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to cabinets for fireextinguishers which are to be located on each floor of the building and whichcontain a battery of fire-extinguishers connected in such a manner that in case of fire the acid-bottles in the individual extinguishers are automatically emptied and the supply of carbonated water rendered immediately available so as to be used in extinguishing an incipient fire on the floor on which the same occurs.

The cabinet is rovided with all the parts Inecessary,-the attery of' extinguishers, electric batteries, releasing mechanism, and a hose and nozzle of sufficient length so that any room on the floor can be reached coinveniently by the fire-extinguishing liquid for extinguishing the fire.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front-elevation of my improved fire-extinguishing cabinet showing the doors in open position so as to exhibit the interior arrangement of the same, Fig. 2 is a frontelevation, partly in section, of the acid-bottle emptying mechanism and the releasing mechanism for the same, drawn on a larger scale, and Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse section on line 3, 8, Fig. 2, showing in dotted lines the second position of the automatic releasing mechanism.

Similar letters of reference indicate correponding parts throughout the figures.

Referring to the drawings, (1 represents a cabinet which is provided with hinged doors (Z. In the cabinet are arranged two or more fire-extinguishers f, sidewise of each other, which are charged with water and sodium bicarbonate or other salt generating carbonic acid, and which are provided with invertible acid-bottles supported in holders at the upper interior part, as described in my application for Letters Patent, Serial No. 367 ,490, filed April 11, 1907. Each fire-extinguisher f is provided with a rotary valve g which is operated by means of a lever 9 that is held against stopins 9 the lever being attached to the shaft 0 the acid-bottle holder to which the valve is connected. The upper ends of the levers g are connected by a cross-bar gr against which presses a pivoted and springactuated bail b, which is preferably made of strong wire. The ends of the bail are applied to a pivot 6 said bail being acted upon by strong helical springs b that are placed on the pivot 6 said pivot being supported by a U-shaped bracket 11 which is attached to the rear-wall of the cabinet by screw-posts b The lower ends of the valve-casings are connected with hose-sections h, both of which are connected with a hose 7L1 of suitable length, the hose being provided with a nozzle andbeing hung on an arm k that is pivoted to the sidewall of the casing andadapted to swing outwardly so that the hose can be removed instantly from the same for use.

The pivoted and spring-actuated bail b is held in position by a latch Z which is applied to the armature e of an electromagnet e which is attached to the under surface of the top of the cabinet, as shown in Fig. 1, said electromagnet being connected with a battery B, B which is located in the cabinet sidewise of the fire-extinguishers said battery being connected by conducting-wires with a number of push-buttons p and automatically actuated circuit-closers c which are arranged on the ceilings of the different rooms. Only one push-button and one circuit-closer are shown in the drawing. On the head-board of the cabinet is arranged an electric lamp 'c an electric alarm 0 below the same, and a push-button 19 In case of a fire, all that it 1s necessary to do is to depress the push-button in any one of the rooms so as to close the circuit and attract the armature of the electromagnet, whereby the latch Z is released from the bail?) and the latter swung under the tension of its springs, together with the connected valve-levers, in downward direction, as indicated by the arrow and the dotted lines in Fig. 3, against a second stop-pin g which is arranged at the lower part of the valve-casing vertically below the stop-pin g The motion of the levers produces the turning of the acid-bottles and the discharging of the acid into the water charged with carbonic acid salt. While the mixture of the acid and liquid in the fire-extinguishers takes place the hose is removed and the nozzle carried to the source of the fire; the nozzle is opened and the carbonated liquid thrown on the fire so as to extinguish it. In case there is no one in the room where the fire is started, the automatic closing of the battery circuit takes place by the circuit-closer c which is operated by a thermostat, which closes the battery circuit and starts the alarm, drawing attention to the fact that a fire is in the room, so that any attendant hearing the alarm can take hold of the hose and nozzle and run to the source of the fire and extinguish it.

The advantages of my improved fire-extinguishing cabinet are that the same combines all the instrumentalities which are required for indicating an incipient fire and for extinguishing the same Whilein its incipiency, by the closing of the circuit manually or automatically and the actuation of the fire-extinguishers, so that the carbonated liquid in the same can be employed in extinguishing the fire.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. The combination, with the discharge valves of the fire-extinguishers, of means con necting said valves whereby they are operated simultaneously, and an automaticallycontrolled spring-actuated pivoted device to swing said connection, thereby moving said valves into discharging position.

2. The combination, with the discharge valves of the fire-extinguishers, of means conmeans and tending to move the valves into discharging position, and a latch by which said bail is held inoperative.

3. The combination, with the valves of the fire-extinguishers, of the levers and crosspiece which connect said valves, the springactuated device bearing against said crosspiece and tending to move the valves into discharging position, and the electrically operated latch whereby said device is controlled.

4. The combination, with the rotary parts of the fire-extinguishers, of means con meeting said parts and embodying a cross-piece, a pivoted and spring-actuated bail to coact with said cross-piece and which when free oper'ates said rotary parts, a latch coacting with said bail, and latch-operating means.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, WILLIAM E. LUHMAN.

Witnesses:

PAUL GoEPEL, HENRY J. SUHRBIER. 

